Bedtime Stories
by SkippingSteppingStones
Summary: After a long mission, Luke returns to his family to spend some time with his daughter, Rey. ONESHOT


Trigger Warnings: None I can think of

AUs: Happy-After-RotJ

Active Headcanons: Skysolo, Rey-is-Luke's-Daughter, Autistic Force sensitives

"Hey, sweetheart," Luke smiled, pushing open the door to his daughter's room.

Immediately, he felt the bubbling enthusiasm she'd been holding back his whole trip home overflow, as she leapt out of bed and rocketed over to him, throwing herself around his legs with an enthusiastic shriek of, "Dad!"

Laughing, he stuck the storybook he'd been holding under his arm, and worked on prying her free before he lost his balance, "C'mon, Rey, let me go."

"You're home!" She grinned, letting go of him, and bouncing backwards, before pausing to hop excitedly in place, looking up at him, "Finally!"

"It was only a couple of weeks," he shook his head, smiling as he knelt down to her level.

"It felt like _forever_ ," she moaned, flopping forwards into his arms.

Grinning, he dropped the book on the floor, scooping her up, and holding her over his head, tossing her slightly, before slinging her under one arm, and walking over to her bed, where he dumped her on her pile of blankets and pillows.

Giggling, she rolled down, and nearly fell to the floor, before he caught her just at the edge of her bed, and sat her on top of the pile safely.

"Did you and Papa have a good time while I was away?"

Rey flopped down the pile, and into his lap, her voice muffled by his leg, "You were gone foreeeeeveeeeeerr…"

He shook his head, leaning back on the headboard, and twirling a few locks of soft baby hair in his fingers, "It was just a couple weeks. I wish I could just stay home all the time too, but at least this time Papa could!"

Rey rolled over, and gave him a playful glare, "Ben came over _every day_."

"How did you survive?" Luke asked, putting on a concerned face as he scooped her up for another hug.

Rey looked very serious in return, tugging absently at his tunic, "I stayed in my room, and pretended if I didn't talk to him, he wouldn't bug me."

Luke raised an eyebrow, "Did it work?"

Immediately, Rey seemed to become boneless, flopping backwards over his arm in her extremely flexible way, " _No._ Nothing ever works… he doesn't go away…."

"Mmm, that's really frustrating, huh," Luke smiled, carefully laying her flat so she wouldn't hurt herself.

"One day." Rey declared, waving her arms up at the ceiling as she looked up at the glow in the dark stars he'd arranged for her in an accurate, if vague, map of the galaxy, "I'm gonna come with you… so he can't bug me…"

Luke stretched his arms out behind himself, resting back a bit as he looked up too, "Where do you want to go first?"

Rey scooted herself over to lie next to him, and gave a tug at the back of his tunic, trying to get him to lie down too, "Dunno. Anywhere."

Laughing as she pulled him off balance, he struggled to stay upright, before getting to his feet, and walking to a distant part of her star map, standing on his toes so he could catch the bit of paper that marked where he'd been, "Guess we don't need this anymore, huh?" He asked, crumpling up the slip of bright pink.

"Not for a while, I hope," Rey said, turning her head to look at him, seeming forlorn.

"Not for a while," Luke promised, walking back to her, and kneeling to kiss her forehead, before smiling at her, and fluffing up her hair, "I guess you really missed me, huh?"

"Always!" Rey shouted, flopping her arms out to either side of herself.

"Your Papa always teases you don't miss me at all," Luke told her, smiling.

"Mm," Rey mumbled, rolling over, and hugging him, pressing her face into his chest, "He's lying."

Carefully scooping up her little body, he sat down on her bed, cupping her head carefully in his hand. "I know he is," he smiled, leaning back into the mound of pillows, "He sent me in here to read you a story, y'know."

"Don't care about any crumby story," Rey said into his tunic, her little arms slowly wrapping around him in return.

"Okay," Luke agreed, pulling a blanket around her as well, happy, comfortable, and at ease now, glad to finally be home. No matter how often he told Rey that they were only short times away… his missions really did seem to take forever.

"D'you miss me when you're gone?" Rey asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah, I do," Luke smiled, brushing some loose hair out of her face, "What'm I supposed to do when you're not around to make me smile?"

Rey smiled slightly, resting her head against Luke's shoulder, and humming softly in happiness.

Hugging her tight, Luke pressed his face into her hair, "I love you so much, sweetie… Your Papa and I are always gonna love you. Every night when I'm away… I reach out for you at night, and make sure you're still okay."

Rey nodded slightly, "I know… Do you feel me when I answer?"

"You bet I do," Luke confirmed, meeting her eyes again, "You're getting really good at using the Force."

Rey gave him a gap-toothed smile, before it faltered somewhat, and she mumbled, "Sometimes… I sense you even when you're not reaching for me…"

Luke's stomach turned over, but he forced himself to smile, "Well that's… that's great! You're doing an amazing job."

Rey frowned, shaking her head slowly, before looking down at her hands again. "It's not always… good things…"

Luke sighed, deflating as he held her, slowly, absently rubbing her shoulder. He didn't want to say anything… didn't want to accidentally reveal any other things he had hidden from her in attempts to protect her…

Rey looked up at him again, finally, her lower lip wobbling, "You still dream about him sometimes, don't you? _Your_ dad?"

Luke shook his head, gripping her tiny hand gently in his own, "It's not important, Rey. They're just dreams."

"Really _bad_ ones!" Rey shook her head furiously, "He hurt you."

"It was a long time ago," Luke murmured, "I'm sorry you've had to see any of it. Try not to remember, and I'll make sure you don't see them again."

Rey nodded slightly, her little form limp against his chest as they sat in the darkening room.

After a few moments of reserved silence, he straightened up, trying to shake off the grim mood, "How about that story?"

"Papa doesn't know." Rey said softly, "Does he."

Luke's moment of enthusiasm and bravery vanished with the little girl's whisper, "About my nightmares?"

"Or what he did to you," she added.

"He doesn't know everything," Luke admitted softly, still hugging her, "I couldn't tell him everything about that if I wanted to." He paused for a moment, feeling her emotions, suddenly immediate and vulnerable, now that he was back with her, before he squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head, "I wish you hadn't seen it."

"Why doesn't Papa know?" Rey asked shakily, clinging to her dad's hand.

"He doesn't need to know everything that happened," Luke said. "Vader hurt him too; we both know what it's like to be at his mercy. Telling him everything would only bring it back, for both of us."

"I thought you _loved_ Vader," Rey said, her tiny voice shaking with anger.

"I did," Luke agreed, "I do… But he wasn't a nice man, and he hurt your Papa too."

"I hate him," Rey declared.

"Most people do," Luke said, reaching up to gently wipe a tear from her face, "It's okay if you want to, too."

She looked up at him uncertainly, "You don't, though?"

"Not usually," he agreed, standing up with his daughter cradled in his arms, so he could organize the blankets a bit, and tuck her in. "I don't want you to be scared of what you saw, okay? He's gone, and he won't hurt anyone again."

As he tried to lay her down on her bed, though, she clung to him, "You still _miss_ him."

Resigning himself to having to explain at least a little more thoroughly, he knelt next to her bed, so he could rest her down, without tugging her loose.

"Yeah. Sometimes."

"Why?" she demanded, releasing him somewhat, so he could pull back to her arms' length.

"I always wanted to know my father," he said, waving his hand at the door so it would close, wanting to keep this discussion between the two of them, "Even when I thought he'd been a freighter navigator… I thought he must've been wonderful. Ben loved that, he wanted me to love him even more. He told me that he'd been a Jedi."

"Like you," Rey whispered, watching him closely.

"Like me," he agreed, "Ben said Vader had killed him though."

"But Vader _was_ him," Rey said, her small face twisting up in confusion.

"He was." Luke nodded, stroking her hair out of her face again, as she finally released him, and he sat back comfortably on his heels, "But Ben wanted me to believe that Father would have been proud if I were to kill Vader."

"He lied to you."

"He did."

"You thought…" Rey looked uncertain, clearly trying to puzzle out how the manipulation had worked, "That… he'd be proud… if you killed Vader… because that's what he would've done?"

"That's about right," Luke smiled, gently poking her lip as she pouted in concentration, making her giggle, before she grabbed his hand.

"You still wanna make him proud, don't you?"

Luke shrugged, "I probably always will. Just before he died… he was Anakin again, just for a minute. He seemed proud of me then."

"I bet he was," she said quietly, holding his hand tightly, "I'd be."

"I bet he'd be proud of you, too," Luke smiled, squeezing hers back, before slipping his hand free, and pulling the blankets up around her, "And I think now, he'd tell you to get some sleep. He wouldn't want his little granddaughter being tired for tomorrow."

Rey giggled sleepily, "That's just what you're saying."

"Maybe so, but it's good advice, and I think he'd back me up," Luke smiled, gently pushing her head back to her pillow as she tried to sit up. "I'll see you in the morning, sweetheart."

"Kiss me goodnight!" Rey piped up as he headed for the book he'd dropped.

Scooping up the book, he stepped back over, planting a kiss on her forehead, and stroking her hair back again, "You sleep well, and we can play all day tomorrow."

"O-okay," she yawned, and he glanced back as he reached the door, to see her roll over, and pull her blankets more warmly around herself.

Smiling, he gently touched her mind with the Force, soothing her, and telling her once more how much he loved her. Sensing her mouth quirk up in a little smile, he closed the door after himself, smiling as well.

Walking down the dark hallway, he trailed a hand along the wall, until he found the door to his and Han's room, and pushed it open, dropping the book on his bedside table before crawling in next to his husband.

"How'd it go with Rey?" Han asked, rolling away from the side of the bed to face the ceiling, before looking over at Luke.

"Oh, you know," Luke sighed, pressing himself to his husband's side, having missed the feeling of Han's body against his. Wrapping his arms around Han, he pressed his face into the smuggler's shoulder, "She's getting really smart… Very strong with the Force."

"Course she is, she's your daughter," Han chuckled, trying to extricate an arm to wrap around Luke.

Allowing one of Han's arms to slip from his grasp, Luke sighed, his face now firmly pressed against Han's armpit as the arm he had been snuggling was wrapped around him, "She's sensing things I don't want her to have to…"

Han shifted Luke so their eyes met, "You can't protect her from everything."

Luke nodded, "I know. But… she's seeing my memories… of Father."

"Ah, kriff," Han sighed, stroking Luke's hair gently.

Immediately, Luke felt a lump form in his throat, "I… I don't know how much she saw… I told her I'd stop it, and she wouldn't have to see that again… but I don't even know if I can. If… if I cut her off from me in the Force…" He took a gasping breath, "I probably could…"

"No, kid," Han murmured, rolling onto his side, and pulling Luke close, nuzzling his hair, "The Force is important to you. She loves being able to sense you."

Luke looked up at him in agony, "But I can't _protect_ her! I don't know what she'll see Vader do, if she keeps seeing my memories… I don't want her to see him hurt you, or me… I don't want her to see the farm, and my aunt and uncle's bodies…"

"I know you don't," Han agreed softly, and Luke managed to let out a shaky breath, just feeling his husband's hand running through his hair, and down his neck.

"I missed you both so much," he sighed finally.

Han just made a soft sound of agreement, and Luke closed his eyes, breathing in his husband's scent. Han's arms slipped around him, holding him close, and comfortingly, and he sighed.

"I just want to protect her."

Han bent to kiss his cheek, "You just wanna protect everyone."

In spite of himself, Luke smiled, "That's just who I am."


End file.
